Dr. Richard Currie and Doctors Without Borders
We had a great presentation from Dr. Richard Currie, who worked several years with Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) - in Ethiopia, Kenya, Central African Republic and Peru. His topic was International Development in Today's World.
About Dr. Richard Currie
He is originally from Toronto and graduated from UBC Family Medicine in 2006. Upon completion, he pursued one year of extra training in international health and tropical medicine. Between 2007 and 2014, he spent more than three years living and working in various developing countries, including projects in Kenya, Ethiopia, Central African Republic, Somalia, Peru, and Chad. Many of his experiences were with Doctors Without Borders (Medicins Sans Frontieres). Currently, he practises family and emergency medicine in Salmon Arm, and is co-director of the UBC Enhanced Skills Residency Program in Global Health.
Dr. Currie gave us a super insight into the work being done by MSF and his experience working in those regions that have restricted, if any, access to medical care and life-saving drugs, and where the disease rate is incredibly high. He learned many lessons depending on where he was working. For instance, conditions were pretty awful everywhere, but in area of Ethiopia right next to the Somali border was even more challenging.
Despite these challenges, we must not give up. It's a myth that child mortality has not been reduced over the last few decades. According to the WHO, the rate dropped by 53% from 1990 to 2015, but there is still much work to be done. To find out more about MSF, go to their website at www.msf.ca
